Ironman Triathlon set to bring athletes, fans, money and...

1of11Professional triathletes Matt Hanson, left, of U.S.A., and Ivan Tutukin, of Russia, running side-by-side as the second and third place, respectively, in the 2018 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN® North American Championship Texas Triathlon on Saturday, April 28, 2018, in The Woodlands. Hanson went on winning the first place and Tutukin won the second place. The IRONMAN features 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running. ( Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle

2of11Athletes work their way biking down Six Pines Drive during in the 2018 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN® North American Championship Texas Triathlon on Saturday, April 28, 2018, in The Woodlands. The IRONMAN features 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running. ( Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle

3of11Professional athlete Trevor Delsaut swims toward the swim finish while competing in the 2018 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN® North American Championship Texas Triathlon on Saturday, April 28, 2018, in The Woodlands. The IRONMAN features 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running. ( Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle

4of11Thousands of triathletes stage in the water before beginning the 2.4-mile swim during the inaugural Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas Saturday, May 21, 2011 in The Woodlands, Texas. The triathlon features a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. Over 2,500 athletes are expected to participate. (AP Photo/The Courier, Eric S. Swist)Photo: Eric S. Swist, MBR / AP

6of11Ironman staff members work to prepare buoys for the swimming portion of Saturday's triathlon at Northshore Park, Thursday, April 26, 2018, in The Woodlands.Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff photographer / Houston Chronicle

7of11John Anthony Brown, board member with The Woodlands Township, puts up equipment after training for the swimming portion of the upcoming Ironman competition at Shadowbend YMCA, Wednesday, Jan 30, 2019, in The Woodlands.Photo: Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

8of11Supporters pose for a photograph at the 2018 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN® North American Championship Texas Triathlon on Saturday, April 28, 2018, in The Woodlands. The IRONMAN features 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running. ( Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle

9of11The swimming, running and bicycling course maps for the 2019 Ironman Triathlon in The Woodlands. The event is Saturday, April 27.Photo: Courtesy Maps/Ironman Triathlon North America / Courtesy Maps/Ironman Triathlon North America

10of11The swimming, running and bicycling course maps for the 2019 Ironman Triathlon in The Woodlands. The event is Saturday, April 27.Photo: Courtesy Maps/Ironman Triathlon North America / Courtesy Maps/Ironman Triathlon North America

11of11The swimming, running and bicycling course maps for the 2019 Ironman Triathlon in The Woodlands. The event is Saturday, April 27.Photo: Courtesy Maps/Ironman Triathlon North America / Courtesy Maps/Ironman Triathlon North America

One of the biggest events of the year in The Woodlands begins next week: the annual Memorial Hermann Ironman North American Championship Triathlon, which will draw thousands of world-class athletes, their support teams and cheering fans to the township — along with the usual traffic woes that will cause significant delays on the day of the race on April 27.

John Powers, assistant general manager for community services for The Woodlands, said township officials have been working closely with local law enforcement entities, Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack’s office and officials from the Ironman series to plan out the details and traffic mitigation plan for the monumental endurance event that draws participants from nearly every state in the United States as well as more than three dozen different countries.

“(Planning) Is going well. This has been probably the smoothest year of planning. We have hosted many planning meetings with the Ironman staff, law enforcement…(the meetings) get more frequent as the event draws closer,” Powers said. “Traffic impact notices were mailed by Ironman and residents should have received those this week. Because the running route and bicycle route is on The Woodlands Parkway, that (means) about one-third of the community (is impacted).”

Memorial Hermann Ironman North American Championships

When: Full race is Saturday, April 27 - professional competitors begin racing at 6:25 a.m. while amateur athletes start with a rolling start beginning at 6:40 a.m.

The 2019 race, Powers noted, will have a slightly different course than what was used in 2018, with the race following a course more similar to the 2017 event. In 2018, course planners were forced to shift the bicycling portion of the triathlon onto the Hardy Toll Road, however last minute tweaks to the route caused it to be shorter than is required which led to the race losing its status as a qualifier for the Ironman world championship in Hawaii.

“One thing that is different this year on the bicycle route is that the route is going back to the route that was used in 2017,” Powers explained. “The bicycle route will be on the south side of The Woodlands Parkway from Gosling Road to the Cochran’s Crossing intersection by the John Cooper School entrance. That Gosling-Woodlands Parkway segment is new this year. That major intersection will be congested.”

The road closures for the Ironman will not cause any particular neighborhood or area to be completely isolated, Powers stressed, but drivers that need to leave those areas may need to seek alternate routes out of their neighborhoods. Emergency first responders are not hampered by the closures, he added, and will have full access to any location in the township where they may be needed for police, fire or medical aid.

“The only street (fully) closed is Lake Robbins Drive from Grogan’s Mill Road to Six Pines Drive. After 10:10 a.m., the bicycling route will be done and out of The Woodlands,” Powers said. “There could be 30-minute delays at times (on April 27) because of the close proximity of bicyclists (to cars). When they are packed up, it can be a long wait for them to pass. No roads are ever closed, but there are long delays (at many intersections) in the morning. All detour information is in the flier sent to residents and on the Ironman website.”

Volunteers needed

Sandra Sutherland, the volunteer director for the Ironman Triathlon in The Woodlands, said in total, she expects about 4,000 volunteers to assist with the race this year — but, she and other volunteer coordinators are still in need of about 500 additional volunteers to sign up before next Tuesday.

“We are about 500 (volunteers) away (from our goal). We have about 4,000 volunteers (each year). We should max out next week,” Sutherland said. “The application is fully online.”

Sutherland said race volunteers are utilized for almost a dozen unique roles, including helping with race preparations starting on Tuesday when the majority of the thousands of athletes who are participating begin showing up in The Woodlands.

“We begin on Tuesday organizing boxes of T-shirts. On Wednesday, registration opens and on Friday, there is a practice swim and the bicycle check-in,” she explained. Volunteers also assist with distributing water and energy drinks to athletes as they compete, assisting with swimmers exiting the water and other tasks. Many volunteers are family members or friends with athletes who volunteer to have an opportunity to see the race and their acquaintance up close, she added.

One of the more crucial roles, Sutherland noted, for volunteers is helping tired athletes or the few who may collapse at the end of the race.

“Some of the (competitors) may collapse at the end, not a lot, but we do see that,” Sutherland said of volunteers called ‘catchers.’ “They help those (athletes) if they fall down…you are prepared to give (the athlete) extra support. The vast majority of athletes walk on their own.”

Economic impact

Powers said that aside from the recently completed The Waterway Arts Festival, the Ironman Triathlon has the most financial impact on The Woodlands, as along with the thousands of athletes who are competing in the event, there are as many as three to four times as many support staff, family, friends and other fans of the event who descend on the township for anywhere from four to seven days. Those thousands of people use local hotels, eat at area restaurants, go shopping and take part in other financial-boosting activities that add revenue to the township’s hotel occupancy tax and sales tax coffers.

“For a number of reasons, the economic impact is at least $14 million on the community,” Powers said of the Ironman week. “People come from all over the world. There will be at least 3,300 athletes and each usually brings two to three people with them. More than 100 athletes who do the event are from The Woodlands, about 150 to 200 are from Houston and another 700 are from Texas. (The Ironman) Puts The Woodlands on the map. (The event) Has exploded.”

Traffic issues

While the event does bring significant revenue into the township’s coffers and for local businesses, the one big sacrifice is mobility during the day of the event, Powers said. There is a hotline that will go live during race week for residents seeking information on traffic delays and other temporary closures. An informational flier was sent to all township residents, with most receiving it already, and officials merely advise locals to plan ahead for the event so there are no surprises.

The first racers begin at 6:25 a.m. on April 27, when the professional contingent begins their open water swim. Amateur athletes are allowed to begin swimming at 6:40 a.m. And while the fastest athletes are usually off the course by 3 to 4 p.m., the event continues past 10 p.m. for others who are slower. The majority of road delays will be from the 6:25 a.m. start time through 11 a.m. to the noon time period, Powers added.

“It does create some gridlock in the morning (on April 27),” Powers admitted. “But, most businesses in the Town Center appreciate what it does — people are shopping, eating at restaurants and spending money.”

Regional Editor Jeff Forward works in The Woodlands newsroom and manages the twice-weekly The Woodlands Villager. A 1997 graduate of The Ohio State University, Forward has worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in California, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Texas, Indiana and Ohio during his career. While working in Iowa and California, Forward was honored with awards for breaking news reporting, breaking news photography and special sections on education and the Hmong people. Forward was the lead editor on the nationally and state recognized series “Mental Health: Iowa’s Crisis,” which won awards from the Iowa Newspaper Association, the Inland Press Association among others.